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Mexican Ruling Party Defeated in Presidential Elections
Conservative candidate Vicente Fox won presidential elections Sunday, defeating the world's longest-ruling party that has governed Mexico for 71 years, according to exit polls, projections and early partial results.
Four different projections and three exit polls gave Fox around 40 percent of the vote, and a three to nine-point lead over Francisco Labasida of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Cuauhtemoc Cardenas of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) was in third position with between 16 and 19 percent of the votes.
Preliminary results confirmed the victory of the National Action Party (PAN) candidate.
With results from six percent of the voting stations counted, the Federal Electoral Institute (IFE) gave 49 percent to Fox, 31 percent to Labastida and 14 percent to Cardenas. The early results came primarily from urban areas, where Fox enjoys strong support.
Exit polls showed the PRI's historic defeat was compounded by opposition victories in the two gubernatorial and Mexico City government elections also held Sunday.
The center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), whose presidential candidate Cuauhtemoc Cardenas took 16 percent of the vote according to Televisa, maintained its leadership of the Mexican capital, which it had wrested from the PRI in 1997.
The polls showed the PAN won the gubernatorial elections in Fox's stronghold of Guanajuato and in Morelos state.
The 59 million eligible voters also voted to renew the 500-member Chamber of Deputies, where the PRI was unlikely to regain the majority it lost in 1997, and to elect 128 senators.
Fox Sunday cited the exit polls, but stopped short of immediately claiming victory.
"At this stage we cannot yet confirm officially that we have won the presidency of the republic," he told supporters who already cheered his victory over the party that has ruled Mexico for 71 years.
"Nevertheless," he added, "exit polls all concur that there is an ample margin, which is why I appear before you," he said.
A little later, Cardenas conceded Fox appeared to have won the elections and that "this was the decision of the great majority of the people."
"In this election, the dismantling of the state party has started," he told his supporters.
Cardenas also declared victory for his party in the Mexican capital.
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